Dana Vollmer / WGLT
Bloomington-Normal restaurant owners who shirked the governor s executive orders say they re being painted as villains. But they argue they should ve had a seat at the table when COVID-19 mitigations were being developed.
Joe Wargo co-owns Joe s Pub and Joe’s Station House in the Twin Cities. There’s an unresolved complaint against Wargo’s Bloomington business for failing to comply to Tier 3 mitigations. Wargo said they’re just doing the best they can.
“It goes without saying that we ve all had our fair share of struggles during this pandemic,” Wargo said at a news conference Tuesday outside of Joe s Pub. “The first word that comes to mind when describing the economic impact that this virus and the mitigations have had on our staff and business is ‘devastating.’ But that word seems to do no justice for the long days and nights that we ve experienced over the last nine months.”